Home > Latino Entrepreneurs Make It In America: Max Navarro and Dr. Lynda Y. de la Vina, Founders of Operational Technologies Corporation

Latino Entrepreneurs Make It In America: Max Navarro and Dr. Lynda Y. de la Vina, Founders of Operational Technologies Corporation

For Immediate Release:

September 28, 2011

As we take time during Hispanic Heritage Month to celebrate important contributions of the Latino community to our economy, House Democrats are highlighting Hispanic entrepreneurs across the country who are helping to drive our economic recovery:

Max Navarro and Dr. Lynda Y. de la Vina founded Operational Technologies Corporation in 1986 in San Antonio, Texas, which has been recognized as one of the fastest growing small business companies in the United States. OpTech offers a wide range of services, including formulating and implementing strategies for the supply chain management of products and processes. In 2004, the company formed a partnership with Vuteq, Inc. to support Toyota of North America as a first-tier supplier. Together, they employ more than 500 employees and provide Toyota with advanced assembly manufacturing.

Max, Chairman of OpTech’s Board of Directors, has been a major developer of business in San Antonio, as well as in other states and internationally. Under his leadership, OpTech has engaged in wide-ranging technical areas, including environmental science, engineering and installation of sensitive communications at U.S. facilities around the world, as well as providing other scientific and technical support to the U.S. military. Along with the ever-expanding scope of services offered by OpTech, he has created additional companies in an effort to allow optimal focus in each business. Mr. Navarro is now chairman or member of several boards, and he has served on National boards and Committees, including White House appointments to the Industry Policy Advisory Committee for Trade Policy Matters and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commission.

Lynda serves as a member of OpTech’s Board, is Dean and Peter Flawn Professor of Economics at The University of Texas at San Antonio, College of Business and is executive director of the Center for Global Entrepreneurship. The first Mexican-American Woman at the Secretarial level of the U.S. Treasury, she served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy from 1998-2001. Following her role at the Treasury, she was Senior Policy Analyst at the U.S.-Mexico Chamber of Commerce. She then rejoined academia and was named full professor and associate dean of the School of Professional Studies where she led the Graduate Division of Business and Management and was Chair of the Department of Finance and International Business at Johns Hopkins University. In addition to founding OpTech, Lynda has co-founded several companies in San Antonio, such as Pronucleotein Biotechnologies. She received her Master’s and Doctorate in Economics from Rice University and her Bachelor’s in Government and Economics from UT-Pan American, making her the first Mexican-American woman to receive a Ph.D. in economics in the United States.

House Democrats are committed to helping Max, Lynda and all Latino entrepreneurs and innovators succeed by focusing on our Make It In America plan - a plan to boost job creation by promoting an encouraging environment for businesses to innovate and make products here in the U.S. To learn more about how the Make It In America plan will help the Latino community, click here.[1]